BLAME RELENTLESS MEXICO DEATHS ON PROHIBITION OF MARIJUANA

When we think about wars happening in the world right now, Iraq and
Afghanistan jump to mind. But there is also a bloody and growing war
in our backyard and that is the Drug War in Mexico.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched a full-scale military
assault against the drug traffickers in his country as soon as he took
office in December 2006.

Three years later, the "surge" against the cartels has led to Mexico
spinning out of control with jaw-dropping violence -- with no
meaningful impact on the export and availability of drugs.

More than twice the number of Mexicans have died in these three years
- -- 15,000 -- than have Americans in both Iraq and Afghanistan combined
after more than seven years.

In the past few days, the insanity has made front-page news, as it
often does. The New York Times published a piece about the "death of
journalism," about how cartels have threatened and killed so many
reporters in Mexico that the press is too terrified to cover the drug
war.

Monday, there was another front-page New York Times piece about the
U.S. Consulate official and her husband from El Paso who were gunned
down over the weekend in Juarez, the highest ranking Americans to be
murdered to date. And this weekend, we also heard about the 24 people
murdered, including several beheadings, in the spring-break hot spot
of Acapulco.

While the mayhem has been covered in tens of thousands of news stories
around the world, rarely is the root of the problem explained: drug
prohibition. Remember alcohol Prohibition, Chicago under Al Capone,
shootouts in broad daylight?

That's what we have in Mexico, a thousand times over.

There is nothing inherently evil or violent about marijuana and coca,
but prohibiting these plants makes them worth more than gold. And
people are willing to kill each other for the enormous profits to be
made by bringing them to market. Now that alcohol is legal, no one is
murdered over a case of Budweiser.

The best next step we have toward reducing the violence in Mexico is
ending marijuana prohibition. The Drug Enforcement Agency estimates
that 60 percent of the cartels' profits come from marijuana, a plant
that more than one-half of Americans have consumed at some point in
their lives. Regulating the multibillion-dollar marijuana market would
significantly diminish the power of the cartels.

But don't expect our elected officials and other leadership to make
this happen any time soon. With the exception of a brave few, most in
Washington are too politically timid to even have a debate about the
root problem.

Fortunately, there's a history of citizens taking the lead on
de-escalating the drug war at home, most prominently in California
where they approved measures at the ballot to create access to medical
marijuana in 1996, and a treatment-instead-of-incarceration program
for nonviolent drug users in 2000.

This November, the people of California will once again have an
opportunity to vote on an anti-drug war ballot initiative, this time
to tax and regulate marijuana in the state.

If it passes, it could prove to be a pivotal first step toward ending
marijuana prohibition in the U.S. -- and the violence in Mexico. As
we've learned these past three years, more guns, tanks, and bombs in
Mexico are not the answer.

It's time for an exit strategy from the failed war on marijuana. If
the people lead, the leaders will follow.